England lost to Brazil this weekend and full-back Kyle Walker has become the first big-name player to pick up an injury during the ongoing international break.
The Manchester City defender was taken off after just 20 minutes with a suspected hamstring injury and he is now a major doubt for City’s clash against Arsenal next weekend.
Kyle Walker limped off the pitch with what looked like a hamstring injury but the Three Lions manager has failed to provide any detailed update regarding the extent of the injury.
Gareth Southgate speaking on Walker’s injury: “We don’t know yet”.
“He is feeling something but he is not a player who is injured very often so he’s not quite certain what it is. So it is something we have to assess in the coming days”.
Kyle Walker did try to run off the injury but he eventually had to be replaced by Aston Villa’s Ezri Konsa and if it is indeed a hamstring injury then the full-back is going to miss England’s second friendly against Belgium on March 26.
Manchester City play Arsenal in one week’s time and Walker is now a serious doubt for this high-profile tie as well. Arsenal are sitting at the top of the Premier League table and next weekend’s match could very well decide the fate of the EPL title so Walker could turn out to be a very big miss.
Walker’s backup in the City squad is 19-year-old Rico Lewis and it will be a big problem for Guardiola if the youngster has the job to stop Bukayo Saka. Bukayo Saka withdrew from the England squad due to an existing injury and if he is not available then Mikel Arteta will most likely deploy Gabriel Jesus on the right flank.
Central defenders Nathan Ake and Gvardiol have featured as full-backs this season for Man City but both of them have played on the left-hand side so if Kyle Walker is unavailable next weekend then Pep will have no other option but to put his faith in young Lewis.
UPDATE ON KYLE WALKER:
Kyle Walker has withdrawn from the England squad and his Manchester City teammate Rico Lewis has been called up to join Gareth Southgate’s squad for the remainder of the international duty.
This means Walker is now facing a race against time to be fit for the Arsenal game next weekend.
